As the dogs days of summer continue through the month of August, thoughts of back to school start to come to mind for parents and students alike.

For some that means a return to school sports, as well.

The Dauphin Clippers football team began workouts, Aug. 3, and have continued practicing twice a week.

While the numbers vary from practice to practice, team manager Cam Bennet said they could have as many as 40 players by the time the Rural Manitoba Football League season starts next month.

“The guys seem to be in pretty good shape coming in. Some people have been doing some summer workouts on their own,” he said, adding there is a good mix of rookies and veterans. “I know a lot of the rookies, too, Gerald Lopez has done a great job with the junior program. So there are kids coming in that have played football. They know what 10 yards is. I’m hoping we don’t have to explain the rules to as many as we usually do,” he said. “So it should be a good season.”

The Clippers reached the RMFL championship game last year, falling to the Swan Valley Tigers. Bennet said there are 15 to 20 players back from last year’s squad, though they did lose some key players.

“But I’m hopeful that some of our younger guys are going to step up and become key guys this year,” he added.

Although he doesn’t know what other teams have in terms of players, Bennet is confident that with the numbers they have, the Clippers will be right in the mix for another championship.

“I’m always a believer that when you’ve got a lot of numbers, if you’ve get injuries, you’ve got guys that can go in. We’re really lucky in the sense that we draw from a large area,” he said. “Some of the smaller schools struggle to get 20 kids out. So we’re at an advantage already by having the size and the numbers. So I would expect us to be in the top four, for sure, and hopefully in the final.”

An exhibition game against the Neelin Spartans is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 2. The regular season begins, Sept. 8, against the Tigers in Dauphin in a rematch of last year’s final. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

When the Canada Senior Games take place in Kamloops, B.C., Aug. 23 to 26, a group of athletes from Dauphin will be part of the Manitoba contingent competing in the ice hockey 65+ event.

Jim Steiner, Brad Carefoot, Randy Daley, Larry Budzinski and Uwe Janson will open the tournament, Aug. 23 when Manitoba faces Vintage Edmonton.

Tom Carberry is coach of Manitoba’s 65+ team, which has been praticing in Dauphin in preparation of the games. He joked about the team taking pity on him because he couldn’t skate anymore.

“So they got me coaching just to give me something to do,” he added. “This same group went to the last Canada Senior Games in New Brunswick pre-pandemic. So this is the first time since.”

Most of the provinces have playdowns to determine a representative. But Manitoba only has the one team in the 65+ category.

There will be two teams from Alberta and Ontario, and one each from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and B.C.

Teams will play a round-robin, Aug. 23 to 25, with the medal round on Aug. 26.

The rest of the team is from the Westman area, primarily Brandon, with some hailing from the Virden-Souris area and one from Shilo.

“They’re guys that are basically the core of the team from the last games that were held. Brian Evenson is the manager. He’s from Minnedosa, and he;’s sort of the glue that holds us all together,” Carberry said.

The team’s expectations are simple - come back alive, Carberry said.

At the last Canada Senior Games in New Brunswick, Manitoba lost all their games and only scored one or two goals.

“So we’re hoping for maybe three goals this time and everybody healthy,” Carberry said.

The main goal is to have fun. While some players are competitive, the goal of the tournament is to have fun.

“Some of the teams have guys that have played a pretty high level of hockey. So have some of ours, but we’re showing our age now,” Carberry stated, adding there is a 75+ age group competing in Kamloops, as well. “Have some fun, get some exercise, build some comradery and, of course, the most important things is not hurt our pride too much,” he said